West Texas Free Range Elk Hunt

[Silas_Norris]

What’s interesting is when I read the story it made me not want to go, to each their own but stoked the OP enjoyed it.

Yeah, i dont think outfitters are being booked up and raising prices due to my post. A bunch of drama queens on here. If people read my post they saw that after 3 days we had hardly seen a elk on our ranch and we were lucky to be successful. For the money I paid. I would hope to be on the elk almost daily. We got lucky

 

[COelk89]

Not a outfitter or associated with one

Fair enough. I looked back and I don't see the post folks are referring to either so it either was not posted or was removed. Sorry to shit on you. I am glad you enjoyed the experience.

 

[Silas_Norris]

Several people's comments in this post prove their ignorance about how hunting on private land in west texas actually works. There are countless free range exotics and game species in texas that only are allowed to exist because they are a crop to the landowners. If a elk is worth more than a cow, it gets to stay and reproduce. Same goes for Aoudad, Deer, and several african exotics. The landowners can get like 3k for a longhorn and as long as some of the exotics produce income, they get to exist. Those trying to keep texas a "secret" dont understand the importance of the economics. Elk could inhabit MANY more parts of texas than they currently do. When the elk hunts go up it is self regulating because ranch owners will start to promote populations of elk on their own ranches. This means there are more ranches with elk and that drives the price down. If elk prices stay down their population will as well in West Texas as other animals and the managment of those other animals will take priority over elk. In turn, this drives the prices up even more as there is a very limited area that these animals can be hunted in West Texas.
Its pretty basic economics.
What is driving costs up on elk is more to do with the odds of success and the population of elk in other states across the rockies. Many units are overloaded with hunters and the chances of shooting a trophy elk without 20 preference points is going down every year. This is driving people to want to look into private land options and pay the big bucks to actually have luck.
I have a few buddies that have gone out west for like 10 years. To date, none of them have shot a elk like I did in 3 days. At this point, they have all spent the time and money to shoot a elk like mine, but, they havent had the chance. More and more people are doing the math and seeing that chances of success are only like 5%. If that costs you $1,000-$1,500 dollars what should a elk hunt on private land with 100% success rate cost?

That is what is driving hunters that want to be successful to private land options.

For me, I do not care as much about success but rather I do not want to deal with a orange army of hunters and I am willing to spend some hard earned money in order to secure a spot that has elk and wont be interrupted by other hunters. If I do not get one, that is fine with me but I do not want to look across the valley and see more hunters than I do elk lol.

 

[COelk89]

Several people's comments in this post prove their ignorance about how hunting on private land in west texas actually works. There are countless free range exotics and game species in texas that only are allowed to exist because they are a crop to the landowners. If a elk is worth more than a cow, it gets to stay and reproduce. Same goes for Aoudad, Deer, and several african exotics. The landowners can get like 3k for a longhorn and as long as some of the exotics produce income, they get to exist. Those trying to keep texas a "secret" dont understand the importance of the economics. Elk could inhabit MANY more parts of texas than they currently do. When the elk hunts go up it is self regulating because ranch owners will start to promote populations of elk on their own ranches. This means there are more ranches with elk and that drives the price down. If elk prices stay down their population will as well in West Texas as other animals and the managment of those other animals will take priority over elk. In turn, this drives the prices up even more as there is a very limited area that these animals can be hunted in West Texas.
Its pretty basic economics.
What is driving costs up on elk is more to do with the odds of success and the population of elk in other states across the rockies. Many units are overloaded with hunters and the chances of shooting a trophy elk without 20 preference points is going down every year. This is driving people to want to look into private land options and pay the big bucks to actually have luck.
I have a few buddies that have gone out west for like 10 years. To date, none of them have shot a elk like I did in 3 days. At this point, they have all spent the time and money to shoot a elk like mine, but, they havent had the chance. More and more people are doing the math and seeing that chances of success are only like 5%. If that costs you $1,000-$1,500 dollars what should a elk hunt on private land with 100% success rate cost?

That is what is driving hunters that want to be successful to private land options.

For me, I do not care as much about success but rather I do not want to deal with a orange army of hunters and I am willing to spend some hard earned money in order to secure a spot that has elk and wont be interrupted by other hunters. If I do not get one, that is fine with me but I do not want to look across the valley and see more hunters than I do elk lol.

Silas I have a mule deer and WT lease in Terrell County. I do not want elk on my lease lol. I see idiots posting pictures on facebook of elk at their feeders. Sure elk can live in creosote and you can feed them they will live. I don't want that feed bill and I don't think most lease hunters want to feed an elk herd. You are not buying luck hunting private in Texas, it is pay to play and always will be.

edit: I left Texas but I still go back and play. Best of both worlds.!

 

[Silas_Norris]

Silas I have a mule deer and WT lease in Terrell County. I do not want elk on my lease lol. I see idiots posting pictures on facebook of elk at their feeders. Sure elk can live in creosote and you can feed them they will live. I don't want that feed bill and I don't think most lease hunters want to feed an elk herd. You are not buying luck hunting private in Texas, it is pay to play and always will be.

edit: I left Texas but I still go back and play. Best of both worlds.!

Yes I am in agreement with your post. I am just not sure why guys are blowing me shit for my write up on hunting elk in west texas. They think my post is going to blow up and outfitters will all double their price lol. The west texas elk hunting outfitters are all advertising already and there are pro hunters that are making show episodes about it. How do they think I found out about it? lol

 

[COelk89]

Yes I am in agreement with your post. I am just not sure why guys are blowing me shit for my write up on hunting elk in west texas. They think my post is going to blow up and outfitters will all double their price lol. The west texas elk hunting outfitters are all advertising already and there are pro hunters that are making show episodes about it. How do they think I found out about it? lol

You are not wrong but neither are they. The fact of the matter is there is always someone with more money to come in and take your place on an outfitted hunt or a lease (or buy a ranch out from under you). The people on rokslide are of a different type than those on facebook. More passionate, more protective, conservation minded, and by in large from my observations better hunters. We have all been burned in one way or another from spots becoming played out due to crowding. In your previous post you lay out the logic for why it may be more economical for many Texans to stay home and pay for a guided elk hunt, but that very logic is what could price you out someday if demand goes up (I say that knowing nothing about your financial situation, but assuming you probably don't want to be shelling out 15-20k year over year on an elk hunt.) The demand for elk in Texas will always out strip supply just like in every other state they occur. The price goes up and the wait to hunt (whether dealing with outfitters or points) goes up.

We are looking out for you as much as anyone. We want you to continue to be able to go on those hunts affordably if that is what you want to do. I got flamed a bit earlier this year for simply naming a unit I drew in a draw thread that was literally one of the governors tags auctioned in that state. It happens, lots of testosterone pumping, especially before season.

Congrats on the bull. I do hope to hunt an elk someday in Texas, preferably the Davis Mountains. I'll be on a guided mule deer hunt west of Ft Stockton this January hunting with my Dad. Big ranch, no orange army, and I can hunt at my Dads pace. Perfect. Texas is a great place to hunt, and offers many different styles of hunting if you can get in the door and are willing to pay.

 

[TexasBlueDevil]

Interesting response. I am not a outfitter or affiliated with any outfitters. I checked with several West Texas outfitters. have not found one charging the prices you stated. I have followed west texas elk hunts for years and it is not "new" that they are booked 2 years or more out. That has been the norm.
Also, going back in october for elk in west texas and it was booked just a few months ago lol. And not paying the prices you stated either. Its not cheap by any means but my post did not change a thing.

I know of 2 outfitters charging more than $20,000 for west texas elk, and both have multi-year waiting lists. I have hunted elk annually in West Texas since 2016. The really good ranches that consistently produce 330" to 370" bulls, generally have multi-year waiting list. On the current ranch that I'm hunting, I was on the waiting list for about 6 years.

 

[Hunting_Oregon]

I went on a elk/ audad hunt out of Marfa. 5 days we saw neither. Doesn't get me excited thinking about another west texas elk hunt.

 

[cmorris6]

It has been a while since I have posted anything and it has also been about 4 months since this hunt took place, however, I figured this may be helpful to some people looking for some information on hunting elk in west texas.

I have been looking into various outfitters for a very long time. I am blessed in that I do not mind paying a little extra for a quality experience with a chance at quality animals. While I am earning points in several states, it can take many years to get into a great area with reasonable access and quality bulls etc.

I have several friends that go elk hunting every year in Colorado and I have never been attracted to the crowds of other hunters they run into and the chances at even seeing a decent bull after the first day of season is slim.

So, after researching several options I really started to become more and more interested in West Texas for several reasons.
1. The land is private and many of the ranches are BIG!
2. Elk are considered a non native species (which is odd considering they have had free range elk in west texas since the 1920s) so this means you only need a basic 5 day non resident hunting license and you are good to go. There is no tagging or check in process after the kill. No antler restrictions. You can also hunt them year round with any weapon you choose (rifle or bow etc). Heck, you can even hunt them with thermals at night if you were so inclined (not my style but it is legal).
3. The terrain is easier and hunting out of a hotel or quality camp is possible. No need to horseback in 15 miles to a spike camp. I do enjoy hard hunts with hiking and spike camps but it is not necessary on this type of hunt usually.
4. Weather is pretty ideal during the months of September-March and it is not really likely to rain for several days etc. So, the weather is usually nice. Heavy winds may be the only thing you have to deal with but it certainly could be worse and often is in many other elk hunting areas.
5. Packing out a animal is usually easier. No need in most cases to hike miles with meat and antlers on your back. Usually, you can get a vehicle or 4x4 within a few hundred yards of your downed animal.

If there is a drawback to hunting elk in West Texas it is certainly the cost. It's a pay to play game in West Texas. Elk hunts range form 9k to 16k based on my reasearch for free range elk. I paid something in between that range.

My hunt was a 5 day hunt and took place about 45 minutes from Fort Stockton. We had some heavy winds to deal with and we were hunting late season elk so they were not rutting. This proved to make things a bit more challenging in locating elk. It seemed most of the elk we could see from out vantage points were miles away and on neighboring properties so we were not able to make a play on them. We did see elk every day but not the numbers we expected or hoped to see.

This was a 4 day hunt and on the morning of day 3 were were fortunate to spot two bulls about 1 mile away. I was saddened to learn that the two bulls were about .5 miles across the property line. My heart sank when the guide told me that and I thought our chance was gone. The elk were both headed the opposite direction from where we needed them to come. Luckily the winds started to pick up over the next half hour and the elk decided to do a 180 turn and come back out direction in order to seek protection from the wind.
The two bulls ended up working back onto our ranch and ended up walking up into a drainage to bed. We were able to sneak to within 500 yards and watch the bulls bed. While we could not see them bedded we were confident of where they were bedded at.
I thought the best idea would be to get to a high knob about 300 yards out and wait for them to hopefully feed out that evening. I was a little surprised when the guide said he thought we should try to sneak in there and find the bull bedded. I really thought we would likely spook the bedded bulls on our approach as we did not know exactly where they were bedded (just the general area). I was also worried that it would be too thick in the cedars and we would likely accidentally get too close. Either way, the guide seemed certain that with the high winds in our face we could work slowly and eventually find them bedded. I reluctantly agreed to make the stalk. We worked super slow and glassed every 10 yards or so looking for the white antler tips.

As we got within about 100-150 yards from where we thought the bulls would be bedded the guide leaned over and told me he saw some antler tips! I was shocked as it was thick and hard to see very far. A minute or so later he stated that he could see both of the bulls antlers. After a little more glassing we were able to determine which bull was the larger of the two. He was a big 5x5. There are certainly bigger bulls out there to be had but this had been a hard hunt and after 3 days this was the first stalk we even had the chance to make on a bull. I was more than happy to shoot a bull of this caliber. This was also my first elk and I really wanted to bring some meat home! Needless to say, i was more than happy to shoot this bull!

Back to the story, once the bulls were spotted, we really did not have a angle to shoot and it was too thick. From where we were located if the bull stood up it would have been facing me or quartering hard to me. It was vital that I shoot the bull right as he stands up as the cover was very thick and he had several escape routes away from us through thick cover. So, if I was not able to get a shot off as soon as he stood up, that bull would quickly disappear in the thick cover.

We kept working to our left in order to give me a broadside shot. The guide would walk over about 20 yards to the left and then signal me over. We worked closer and more to the left. We had to do this about 3 or 4 times until we were finally in the best position we could be in to make a good shot.

As soon as we moved into the last position I set up the tripod and right when I did that we spooked a mule deer and it started blowing at us. I never even considered while we were making the stalk that we had seen several mule deer in that area earlier that morning. In hindsight we were very lucky to not have spooked more mule deer and blowing the elk out while making the stalk.

Anyways, the mule deer spooked and it was absolutely perfect. The elk started to look back and forth. I could see his antlers moving and could tell he was looking around for whatever had spooked the mule deer. Only a few seconds later (seemed like a hour) the elk finally stood up. I dont think he stood up for more than a couple quick seconds and I immediately shot and he dropped right back into his bed. Needless to say I was excited. Shot was less than 100 yards away!

I would be happy to answer any questions regarding hunting elk in west texas. I have hunted all over the world and really think that west texas is a specal place. I have hunted there several times now but this was my first time for Elk.
I would recommend going during the rut (September or October). I think the elk will move much during daylight and provide more opportunities. We did not see many elk on this hunt (guide was super surprised). We hunted in February.

I will be headed back in October for a rut hunt and will make a post on the results of that hunt!

Awesome hunt. West Texas is the Wild West of elk hunting for sure. Lot of low fence places to hunt too.

 

[Silas_Norris]

I went on a elk/ audad hunt out of Marfa. 5 days we saw neither. Doesn't get me excited thinking about another west texas elk hunt.

curious what you paid. I have always paid a little more to go with a top notch outfitter. I hunted audad west of Marfa and we could not find a mountain without audad on it. Shot both of our rams the first morning lol. It was over too fast. Tons or rams. I have done two elk hunts in texas now. Saw bulls every morning and every night on each hunt. The land either holds these animals or it doesnt and unfortunately I think there are plenty of outfitters selling hunts they have no business selling. Some of these guys know there are no audad or elk yet still sell a hunt because they have had them run through their land in the past or whatever. I would suggest doing lots of research up front on success rates, what you can expect to see each day, etc.
I always tell every outfitter I book with the following.
1. I dont want or expect a high fenced or can hunt. i want a real fair and wild game hunt.
2. I do not want to hunt on land that does not have the animal I am paying to hunt. So, i dont care if I go home empty handed honestly, but, I also dont want to travel across the country and pay thousands of dollars to hunt a property and not even see the animal I am trying to hunt/kill. Or at least see fresh sign that the animals are there. I can hunt elk here in Indiana and not see anything so if that is what the hunt might be like I would prefer not to do it. I want to pay a premium but I expect to see animals. Killing or getting close is another story. So is bad weather, but, I make it clear up front that I expect to see game and if that is not something they are certain on then I would prefer not to book.
Specifically on audad I had a couple legit outfitters tell me that I would likely see 10 to 100 audad each day on the ranch where we were hunting. That is enough to make me say "lets do it".

 

[Wellingtontx]

Silas, your ego is bigger than your brain if you want to go back there to hunt someday! Your last illustrative post on this same hunt was taken down because it had the potential to kill the spot. Demand far exceeds elk supply in wtx and hunt prices have risen dramatically since you posted this same story a few months back! It’s amazing how many people see these posts! I’m fairly connected with several outfitters on the big ranches in the area. Your post and another on bowsite (maybe you there?) about the same time frame created a “phone ringing off the hook” moment for most wtx outfitters. They booked up a few years more, as a result, with a hell of a price increase.
My guys (likely one of the neighboring properties you mentioned) are $18500 for 2026 trophy hunt. I paid $8500 for same hunt in 2019 & 2022. I don’t mind paying but, I’m a regular customer and outside of 2026, I will not be able to hunt there again until 2029. That’s right! The best properties are booked out 5 years now!
i think it’s pretty well blown out now but, you’re shooting yourself and others in the foot by this irresponsible behavior! If you start posting up public land units on this site, as you did this area, you will get a lot worse treatment than I give!

Good luck!

To others with aspirations, getting with a reputable outfitter is key! Ask for pics and referrals. Beware of the bad actors in this area with 6000-20000 acres charging $10-12000 for a “trophy” hunt! You might not see a chipmunk! Only a few places in hundreds of square miles hold elk year round. They certainly pass through a lot of properties but, it might only be for a moment in time or during times when they have water in the tanks. Big bull pics around feeders don’t mean a whole lot after the water dries up on a lot of properties.

Man doesnt see fair to jump on this guy for posting a story and pics. Greed of the outfitters and demand is what is driving prices. Dont shame the hunter. Absolutely ridiculous. Pay the price or keep your mouth closed about what someone is charging and move on.

 

[Wellingtontx]

Silas - nice elk BTW ! Congratulations

 

[wytx]

Yep, sounds like jealousy that they can't afford that type of hunt.
Thanks for the write up.